Salutations! I know, it has been forever. Life has been crazy for me so I've been writing but not editing. That said, I've done what I can with my stuff, but it's just me. All mistakes are mine. Thanks to all who have stuck with me on this! This next chapter is for an anonymous reviewer. Hope it tickles your fancy. - Troll

Chapter 4: Abuzz with Quotes

Harry stalked the halls of S.T.A.R. labs on Earth 1, Earth 2 to him thank you very much, as he listened to the storm rage outside. It was late at night, but the physicist had been unable to sleep. Rather than wake Jesse with his tossing and turning, Harry had opted to get up and walk his restlessness away. He had been at it for a good ten minutes when the sound of crying reached his ears. The sobs were coming from the direction of one of the break rooms. Worried that it was Jesse, he increased his pace, until he was racing down the hall.

The door to the room was open so that Harry barely had time to slow down as he barreled into the room. Startled, the trio occupying the room jumped from the couch and shouted in surprise. Stopping, Harry gazed around in confusion.

"I thought you said he was dead," Hartley Rathaway cried out, desperately trying to wipe tears away from his face.

"I'm not him," Harry snarled. Oh, how he hated Eobard Thawne. At least if his doppelganger had been alive he might have somebody he could talk with. Of course, he also might have hated his alternate's guts. "Why are you crying?" He looked the sobbing man up and down, trying to find an injury. Instead of answering the young man broke down even more. It seemed out of character. Harry had been subjected to Cisco's rants about Hartley Rathaway enough to know who the young man was and just how odd it was to see him in tears.

"Hartley's boyfriend dumped him," Caitlin explained, rubbing the heartbroken man on the back.

"So, this crying fest is your attempts to console the young man?" Harry asked with a frown. Glaring, Caitlin nodded. With a snort, Harry turned. "I have a teenage daughter, good luck. You'll need it," he called out as he vanished back the way he had come.

After a moment of Hartley sniffling and Caitlin glaring after Harry, the heartbroken man spoke. "Wow. He's a dick." The dry statement brought a smile to Cisco's face and allowed them to pull the attention away from Hartley's heart ache.

Several days later Team Flash was in the cortex discussing options for facing Zoom and getting back to Earth 2. For some reason Wally had brought his Joey West and he and Jesse were playing with Bearrison as well while the group went through their ideas. "I don't think we want to blow a hole in the very fabric of time," Harry was saying, shaking his head at the idea Cisco had suggested.

"Yeah, well you aren't exactly offering any options or ideas of your own," Cisco shot back, annoyed at seeing Jesse and Wally quietly play with their animals. He missed Eobear and wished he'd thought to bring his bear with him. It was silly, but the toys seemed to help the team relax and focus.

"Cisco!" A voice called out, floating down the hallway and into Cisco's workroom where the group was meeting. Frowning, the engineer got up and started to go see who it was, glancing at the others in the team. If the team was all there, who the hell was calling his name? "Cisco! I love it! Thank you!" Hartley Rathaway ran into the room and enveloped Cisco in a bone crushing hug.

"Love what?" Cisco managed to gasp out. "Air, please." At the engineer's words, the smile fell from Hartley's face and he stepped back.

"Don't tell me Caitlin did it. It seems totally out of character for her. I was certain it was your doing." Hartley replied with a frown. He looked around the room, his brow furrowing at some of the occupants. "What's going on here?"

"We're trying to figure out a way back to Earth 2," Barry supplied. "How are you doing?" The speedster considered asking what Hartley was ranting about but figured they'd find out no matter what. Cisco had told him about the other man's recent heartache and Barry thought perhaps it was a good way to change the subject.

"I'm fine. Why can't you get back to Earth 2?"

"We closed all the portals," Caitlin said softly.

"Oh," was all Hartley had to say. "Well, I just came over to thank you for the gift," he motioned at the backpack on his shoulder. "I feel silly admitting this, but I've been taking it everywhere I go."

"Taking what?" Caitlin asked, happy to change the subject from their lack of ideas.

"Hartbee," Hartley said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a large stuffed bee. Yelping, Cisco took a step back as he muttered some complaint about bees. Everyone else leaned in to study the toy. The insect had little replicas of Hartley's gauntlets on each foot, and a black hood that the antenna poked through. Unable to suppress a smile, the young man turned the bee so that everyone could see the little black glasses framing the eyes. "The quotes were a great touch," he added, pressing one of the gauntlets. The bee hummed and then said something softly in Latin.

"What did it say?" Cisco asked, blinking in shock.

"That all the world's a stage and we are but actors in it," Hartley supplied. "I don't understand. If you didn't make this for me, who did? I only told you and Caitlin about the breakup." Cisco turned to Harry, his gaze narrowing on the older man.

"Come off it, Ramon," Harry grumbled angrily getting to his feet. "You've been blabbing to the whole damn lab about Rathaway and how you wanted to help him. Who here didn't know about the break up?" His blue eyes shot around the room, an eyebrow up as he waited. Nobody raised a hand. "Another deity cursed toy." Shaking his head in disgust, the Earth 2 denizen stomped out of the room.

"Okay, did he seriously just stomp out of here?" Joe asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, don't mind him," Jesse said. "He's just grumpy because I caught him talking to Bearrison."

"Bearrison?" Hartley lifted an eyebrow as he hugged Hartbee to his chest.

"Bearrison," Jesse said, raising the teddy bear for him to see. "Wally and I made them a few weeks ago. Seems to have started all this stuffed animal insanity."

"There are others?" Hartley couldn't hide his interest. The very idea that somebody had made a stuffed animal version of Harrison Wells, even a Harrison Wells from another Earth, was fascinating.

"Oh yeah," Iris said, making a sour face. "A whole family of West animals."

"Interesting. Who's making them?" Hartley looked around the room, but nobody claimed responsibility.

"Jesse and I made the first 2," Wally admitted. "But I had nothing to do with Eobear, Wallyby, or Irisguana." At the mention of the iridescent iguana, Iris huffed.

"So, somebody is making stuffed animals based off of people's names," Hartley summarized. There were nods from various people in the group. "But nobody will admit to making them? Other than the original two made by," he trailed off, realizing he didn't have the faintest idea who the two youngest members of the group were.

"Wally, I'm Joe's son," the young man supplied, offering a hand. Hartley took it with a nod. "This is Jesse Wells, Harry's daughter." While it had been confusing, Joe had explained everything to Wally a while back. After Iris had been hurt, Joe didn't feel comfortable keeping secrets.

"Harry, as in Dr. Wells?" Hartley couldn't believe it. The young woman nodded. "Dr. Wells reproduced?" Perhaps there was something about the way Hartley spoke. For whatever reason, the glare Jesse shot him was familiar to him. He had seen that glare on a decidedly more masculine face before.

"Yes, Harrison Wells is my father. He's a pretty damn good father too." Jesse defended her father angrily and loudly.

"Calm down, Jesse," instructed Joe, holding a hand up. "Hartley didn't mean anything by it. He doesn't know your dad. Remember, he only knew Eobard."

"Yes, I apologize," Hartley declared. "If your father is the one who made Hartbee, I really appreciate it. For whatever reason, he's helped cheer me up. Knowing somebody cares enough to try to make me feel better really helps too."

"What else does it say?" Caitlin asked, thinking of Eobear's confession about being scared of her. She had no idea why the toy would say it, but then again, she had threatened to gut the fuzzy toy.

"Some Shakespeare, several Latin classics, a famous Spanish poem or two. Honestly, I don't think I've cycled through them all," Hartley admitted. "I think there might be some movie quotes too, because they are some that are just utterly silly." A smile tugged at Hartley's lips as he spoke.

"Yeah?" Hesitantly, Cisco reached out and squeezed a gauntlet, quickly pulling his hand back as if afraid the stuffed bee would sting him.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving," the bee said with an accent.

"Albert Einstein," Joe mused. "Smart bee."

"Huh," Cisco mused before he hesitantly reached out and did another rapid triggering of the sound box.

"Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something," the bee declared in an English accent.

"Princess Bride," Cisco identified immediately.

"Princess what?" Harry asked, stalking back into the room. All eyes turned to him. "Sorry, forgot my coffee." He motioned at the large cup on the benchtop next to Joe. With a little huff of amusement, Joe picked the mug up and offered it to the other man.

"Princess Bride," Joe supplied. "It's the movie the quote is from." He motioned at the bee as Harry took his coffee. Following Joe's motion with his gaze, Harry frowned at the plush animal.

"Oh. We're still discussing that, are we?" With a look of extreme annoyance, Harry shook his head, sipped his coffee and then started for the door. "Let me know when we're going to do something serious."

"Dick," Hartley mused once more.

"I've gone man vegan. They say after the first six years you don't miss them anymore," the bee piped up as Cisco jumped back.

"Will you stop that!" Hartley snarled, pulling his bee closer to his chest. "Stop playing with my bee!"

"I'm sorry man! I can't help it," Cisco protested. "It's freakin' addictive!"

"Well, whoever made Hartbee, thank you," Hartley said, glaring at Cisco before turning to leave. The room was silent as the group listened to his footsteps slowly vanish from the lab.

"Did that bee say something about going man vegan?" Wally finally asked. With a huge grin on her face, Jesse nodded. "What's that from?"

"Decoy Bride," Jesse supplied. "Come on, you have to see it!" Grabbing up Bearrison and Joey, she pushed the later into Wally's arms and then grabbed his hand. "I found it on Netflix the other day!" With an amused glance back at the rest of the group, Wally allowed her to drag him off. At least the animals were bringing laughter back to the team.